Panasonic DMP-BD60 Blu-Ray Player

I purchased one of these a week ago. Keep in mind during this review that it's the only Blu-Ray player I've used.

Hookups are decent - HDMI, component, etc.. And optical for audio - I prefer optical to coax. It has an SD card slot, you can do JPG slideshows, play video files, etc.. It also has an ethernet port, through which you can easily update firmware, and access "Viera Cast". It all works.

But, there are a few things that I am having a hard time coming to grips with. First and foremost, it is slow. Slow. SLOOOOW. I don't know if other Blu-Rays are like this, but after you insert a disc, it can be a full minute to two minutes before you have anything other than "loading". Not only that, but if you hit the "functions" button to bring up a SYSTEM MENU while watching, it can take a very long time for that to come up as well. It's just slow all the way around. Occasionally, while navigating system stuff like the Viera Cast, it will just become unresponsive for a minute or two, then start accepting input again. When I say this is slow... I mean that it's unbearably slow.

Second... Viera Cast. Instead of being useful and letting you watch Netflix On-Demand, it only allows you to use Amazon's online rentals. That's a shame, and had I known, I wouldn't have bought the unit. Other than Amazon's rentals, it lets you watch YouTube videos, and see the weather. Not terribly exciting.

Third... the remote is a bit funny. It seems to have more real-estate devoted to TV controls than to player controls. And while it has buttons for "top menu" and "pop-up menu", there is no "menu" button. Why would that be important? Well, if you have a DVD disc inserted, and want to go to the menu... you need "menu". It can be accessed by using the "functions" button, but that is, as I've said, painfully slow.

Now... like I've said, I haven't tried other Blu-Ray players. Maybe they are all this painful. Maybe not. But if I find one that isn't as painfully slow as this - and supports NetFlix - this one will be for sale soon.